First Day Back To School

Schools in Cambodia closed in March of this year and after a long 6 months wait finally re-opened on 7 September 2020.  We wanted to know and hear directly from the students in rural Siem Reap how the school closure has affected them and also what they are looking forward to now that schools are open again.  

We spoke with Rady, Kongnov and Somkhann on their first day back at school and noticed a common theme was around online access to virtual learning.   ​

Internet is accessed primarily through the mobile phone which means that the speed is simply determined by the strength of mobile reception. No wonder then that Kongnov shared that it was difficult to learn online simply because internet in the rural areas is slow. Another driver is that mobile phone credits have to be constantly topped up and Rady felt that the cost of this is a financial strain to her family.  

​Many of us had to adjust to working from home which, despite all of the tech gadgets and communication, was challenging enough. Students in rural Siem Reap faced even greater challenges as hardly anyone had any experience with remote collaboration and teaching. Despite a lot of good will, teachers were neither used to nor prepared and Somkhann lamented that learning suffered because there was no teacher to explain about the lessons. At the same time students had limited interaction with their classmates and friends and could not seek help from them like they used to.  

The cumulative effect of slow internet, lack of preparedness for online learning and significantly fewer lessons compared to the usual curriculum means that students will have to work incredibly hard in order to catch up! 

Now what about the things to look forward to now that schools are open again? 

All the students we spoke with are grateful and excited to be able to return to school to have face-to-face learning full-time.  The seamless learning provided by their teachers in the classroom is something that they took for granted but now greatly appreciate.   

Rady looks forward to having more lessons, Kongnov is particularly happy to meet her classmates after such a long break while Somkhann is thankful that he will be able to ask his teachers questions in person. 

Of course we also wanted to know what students learned and what they want to do differently going forward. It was very encouraging to hear that they intend to be more proactive in asking questions in class.  They also treasure the chance to have real-life interactions with their teachers and classmates.   

Rady felt that just by being with her classmates is enough motivation for her to learn better.  Kongnov and Somkhann  are grateful that they will again be able to discuss with her classmates and teachers the lessons they had.  

We certainly wish them an enjoyable and fruitful learning experience in school. Hopefully one of the positives of not being able to go is the appreciation how much social interaction takes place at school besides of course the invaluable learning and setting students up for life to pursue their dreams! ​​​​